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The Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for two cases Thursday, including one involving an Indianapolis man who died in 2018 from injuries sustained when an IndyGo bus driver allegedly ran over him at a bus stop.
At 10 a.m., the court will hear oral arguments in Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation d/b/a IndyGo Public Transportation v. Norma Jean Bush, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Michael Rex Fergerson, Deceased.
In September 2018, 63-year-old Fergerson was struck by an IndyGo bus as he attempted to board it at the Lafayette Square Mall bus stop.
Fergerson had a dependence on alcohol at the time of his death and had been released from the hospital earlier that day after being found intoxicated on a sidewalk. When he was released from the hospital, he was still intoxicated, according to court records.
Just after 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, an IndyGo bus driven by David Ross pulled up to the Lafayette Square Mall stop.
Video at the stop showed Fergerson approach the front door of the bus but did not reach it before it began to drive away a minute later.
As it pulled away, Fergerson reached toward it and made contact, causing him to get spun around and fall into the bus’s path.
He died from his injuries on Oct. 12.
Fergerson’s estate sued IndyGo, and after a jury trial, IndyGo moved for a directed verdict based on contributory negligence, which the Marion Superior Court denied.
The jury returned a verdict for Fergerson’s estate, which IndyGo appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed.
Fergerson’s estate is now seeking transfer with the Indiana Supreme Court.
Oral arguments will begin at 9 a.m. for Michael T. Schoeff v. State of Indiana.
In August 2023, Schoeff was sentenced to 44 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit dealing in a narcotic drug, but could not reach a verdict on a count of felony aiding, inducing, or causing dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death.
According to a probable cause affidavit, in October 2020, a Muncie police officer was assigned an investigation as a result of a woman’s drug overdose death.
The woman’s boyfriend told police that they had bought drugs from Schoeff and Vera Morgan.
Schoeff denied selling heroin to the woman the night she overdosed, but he admitted selling $40 worth of heroin to the woman and her boyfriend during her birthday week and that he and the couple used the drug at a house.
Schoeff told police that the woman began to overdose that night, but her boyfriend helped her stay awake and come out of it.
The Delaware Circuit Court allowed the state to retry Schoeff on the count and a second jury found him guilty.
A split Indiana Court of Appeals panel affirmed with the majority, determining double jeopardy had not been violated.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted Schoeff’s petition to transfer and has assumed jurisdiction over the case.
Oral arguments can be viewed live through the Supreme Court’s website.
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